


A Slight Problem

by CompleteParadox



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Capture the Flag, Gender Dysphoria, M/M, Mr D is supportive as the god of the lgbt, Not Beta Read, Supportive Nico di Angelo, Trans Will Solace, characters may be ooc but im doing my best i promise, honestly just throwing this fic out there and hoping for the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27325828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompleteParadox/pseuds/CompleteParadox
Summary: When a game of Capture the Flag leads to dysphoria, well, what’s a guy to do?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 8
Kudos: 113





	A Slight Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Hm? Oh, me? Projecting my own gender issues onto a character? It’s more likely than you think. AKA, I was having a bad day today with dysphoria so this fic was written.
> 
> Ok but I’m actually nonbinary and not trans so please if any of my wonderful trans folk see any issues with this just let me know, I always do my best to be respectful in anything I write

Will wasn’t usually an advocate for these sorts of things. Around him stood a litany of demigods, each equipping their weaponry in preparation for the newest game of Capture the Flag. Chiron had announced a new rule be added to test their skills. This game was to be played without armour which only served to send alarms bells ringing in the medic section of Will’s brain. He would probably be dealing with a few injured campers later today.

From the other side of the clearing, a dark figure, who Will quickly recognised as the son of Hades, made his way over towards the medic. Will pretended to pout upon seeing the Italian, “Ah, if it isn’t my traitor of a boyfriend, come to gloat about your new alliance with the other cabins?” From what Will had observed it hadn’t seemed like Nico had much of a choice in his alliance yet that wouldn’t stop him from teasing the other for it. Nico huffed quietly as Will’s arms wrapped loosely over his shoulders, the taller boy’s chin resting on the top of his head.

“You’re going down di Angelo.”

Even though Nico couldn’t see Will properly, he could just as easily visualise the smug grin adorning the blonde’s face. “In your dreams.” He shot back without any real menace. “If you think you’re going to saunter in and take the flag then you are sorely mistaken.” At this, Nico tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow and levelling his boyfriend with a challenging look.

“Oi, Solace you better stop flirting with your boyfriend and get over here.” Kayla called, a mischievous grin on her face as Austin gave her an exhausted look. Behind the two, the rest of the Apollo cabin were checking their weapons alongside a group of Ares and Hephaestus kids.

Sighing dramatically, Will brought a hand up to rest against his forehead in a fainting motion. “So long my love, I do so hope we shall meet again.” The son of Hades snorted, pushing Will towards his siblings with only a fond smirk in response.

If Will was being honest, his main goal was to flirt with Nico as much as possible during the game, he had three main reasons for this.  
1\. If he could distract his boyfriend then it would give his teammates the chance to grab the flag.  
2\. He could do something other than standing around waiting to become a prisoner.  
And of course, 3. He loved how flustered Nico became with the right words.

Jogging over towards his siblings, Will clapped his hands together to get their attention. “Alright y’all, you know the drill. We defend that flag with all our might cause ain’t nobody gonna be stealing it from us.” A loud cheer echoed around the area as the Apollo kids shouted their determination. Meanwhile from the front of the crowd Kayla and Austin made their way over to Will, Kayla throwing an arm around his shoulders, although the sight was rather strange given the way his sister had to stand on the tips of her toes to do so.

“I can’t believe the Athena kids really let us down like this.” She grumbled, glaring at the campers on the other side of the clearing. Will simply shrugged seemingly nonchalantly, the grin on his face the only indicator of his excitement. “Guess we’ll just have to beat them then.”

A horn sounded nearby as Chiron came into sight, the centaur addressing each camper with the rules of the game. By now Will must have heard those rules enough times to be able to list them with even less than a moment's notice. When they were finally given the call for the game to start, Will led his siblings into the forest alongside Sherman Yang, Nyssa Barrera, Miranda Gardiner and all of their siblings respectively. 

Each cabin had their responsibility, Will leading his siblings to their points as defenders where they would each be in charge of securing the area they had been assigned before he too was heading off to his own section. Upon arriving at his designated area, Will stretched out, setting down the bow and arrow he had been given. It wasn’t as if he was much good at using it anyway.

Surprisingly enough, standing around and waiting for your enemies to appear is not exactly fun work. Will was officially bored. Here he was standing around with only the trees for company. And let it be known now that trees are not the best company. Sighing, the son of Apollo ran a hand through his hair, pacing the small clearing. Suddenly, the crunching of leaves sounded to his left. Before he could react, a figure flailed out towards him, the sharp glint of metal flashing into his sight.

The blonde stumbled back abruptly as a sword slashed towards him. It was painfully clear that the other camper didn’t know how to handle the weapon, the blade swinging far too heavily for any of the movements to be directed. For a moment the medic thought he had been injured, the echoes of sharp pain ringing through his mind. Looking down, Will’s breath hitched suddenly as he noticed the jagged line cutting through his shirt and… and his binder. Yet no marks actually hitting his skin. Wrapping his arms around himself quickly, the blonde had to fight down a sudden wave of panic. Though the blade hadn’t marked his skin, the sudden lack of support against his body was jarring beyond belief. This was fine. He could deal with this. 

...

Yeah no he couldn’t do this. Though the cut hadn’t managed to draw any blood, the tear through the front of his clothing felt like an injury in itself. His attacker didn’t seem to notice his panic, too invested in moving forward towards the next target. At least it took any attention off him. Looking around nervously, Will started forward in the direction he hoped was the opposing team's flag. Now all he had to do was avoid coming face to face with any of the other campers. Great.

After having wandered around for far longer than he was comfortable, Will finally caught sight of a familiar demigod. The son of Hades was perched on a large rock, his Stygian sword by his side, ready to defend at a moment’s notice. 

“Nico?” 

His voice was small as he approached his boyfriend who stood in guard of his flag. For a moment Nico’s face lit up, looking ready to tease him, thinking that it was an attempt to distract the other. Which, to be fair, would have been correct if things had gone accordingly. However, that look quickly disappeared when he noticed the panicked look on Will’s face combined with the arms wrapped tightly around his chest.

“What happened?” Instantly the smaller boy was by his side, concerned dark eyes scanning him for injuries.

“One of the other campers, they managed to get me with their sword and-” He was cut off by an alarmed cry from Nico, “They what?!” Shaking his head quickly, Will continued. “D-don’t worry, they didn’t actually hurt me but uh, well, the sword kind of cut through my shirt.” Then quieter, “And uh, my binder too.” Nico was quiet for a moment, eyes still scanning over Will as if he didn’t believe the medic was unharmed. Then he was shrugging off his jacket, handing it over to Will. “It’s probably a bit small but it’s better than nothing right?”

In that moment Will didn’t think he had ever loved anybody quite as much as he did this small Italian boy. As he pulled on the jacket he recognised that yes, it was in fact too small, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Wrapping it around his front and revelling in the familiar earthy scent, Will whispered out a small, “Thank you.” 

The apology was waved away quickly as Nico cast a glance back at the flag he was supposed to be defending. He frowned for a second, concentration evident as several zombies rose from the ground. “Defend the flag with everything you have, just don’t kill or seriously injure anybody.” He instructed before grabbing Will’s hand and dragging him away before Will had the chance to lecture him about the use of his underworldly abilities.

The two boys walked hand in hand, Nico muttering under his breath in Italian, until eventually they emerged from the forest. From there Nico seemed unsure of where to go so Will instead took the lead, heading towards the Big House where Mr D stood leaning against the front porch looking bored.

“Mr Solace, Mr di Angelo, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Though Nico looked surprised to see Will approaching the god, Will simply explained, “My binder tore so I need a new one. My spare is drying at the moment.” The moment he spoke, the god’s demeanor seemed to soften as he gestured for them to follow him inside. Nico seemed hesitant, sending Will a questioning look, ‘Do I come with you or stay here?’ Just as Will went to reply, an impatient drawl interrupted him, “Any day now boys.” 

Rolling his eyes, Will grabbed Nico’s hand once more, dragging him into one of the several rooms within the house where Mr D stood sorting through boxes, rifling through their contents until he pulled out a bundle of fabric. “Please do try to keep this one safe William.” The god said, fond exasperation laced through his voice as he handed the binder to the son of Apollo.

Putting on a lopsided grin, the blonde gave Dionysus a two finger salute. “You got it boss.” Ducking into one of the spare rooms nearby, Will felt relief flood over him as he pulled the binder over his chest. Returning to Nico’s side, the two made their way out of the Big House.

Outside, the cries of battle still sounded from the forest. “Do you need to go back?” Will asked, unsure of exactly how long the zombies could be trusted to stand guard. Nico simply shrugged. “I’m sure they can handle themselves without me, they’ll do fine.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Although we should probably tell Chiron we’ll be skipping the rest of the game so he doesn’t think we’ve gone missing.”

Suffice to say, the conversation with Chiron had been over rather quickly, Nico handling the talking while Will hung back feeling rather awkward. The centaur merely relayed his understanding, giving them the rest of the day off which led to the two making their way towards cabin thirteen. Once inside, Will let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. The familiar comfort of his boyfriend’s cabin gave him the chance to finally unwind and take in the day. Behind him, Nico hung his sword on its hook before perching on his bed.

“I really shouldn't have put on the new binder.” Though he spoke aloud, Will was mostly speaking for himself rather than the other occupant of the room. “I already wore the old one for too long, now I gotta take this one off too. I’d be a pretty hypocritical doctor if I didn’t.” Though it was said jokingly, he could hear the discomfort in his own voice. The slight shake of the syllables and the wavering of each word.

Casting a quick glance back at his boyfriend sitting cross-legged on the bed, Will took note of Nico’s quiet consideration. He knew by now to recognise the discomfort caused by not wearing a binder. Still, there was very little he could do about it. Will could almost see the cogs turning in the other’s head as he worked to find a way to help. 

Instead, Will simply closed the bathroom door before peeling off his shirt and the newly acquired binder. He generally tried to avoid mirrors when he was feeling dysphoric like this though it was rather difficult when his reflection was right there.

But was it really?

Staring back at him was an unfamiliar figure.

Too many curves.

Too soft.

All the wrong shapes.

Shaking his head suddenly, Will stared at the cool marble tiles instead of the stranger in front of him. His mind felt fuzzy and tears pricked at his eyes, a lump steadily forming in his throat as he fought down the familiar panic that came with days like this.

“Will?” Shutting his eyes tight, Will focused on the soft accented voice coming from the other side of the door. He had always loved the way Nico said his name. The way the ‘i’ became a long ‘e’ caused a small smile to appear on his face every time. Without looking up, Will grabbed one of the many sleep shirts that he kept in the Hades cabin for moments such as these. The material was loose, falling over his shoulders boxily so as to not define any shapes. It was the best he could do at the moment.

When Will returned from the bathroom, Nico immediately reached his arms out, making grabby hands at his boyfriend while pouting slightly. The action brought a small laugh from the blonde who gladly let himself be pulled in.

Crawling onto the bed in front of Nico, Will immediately hooked his arms underneath the other’s, lifting him up only to flop backwards with a grin, sending both of them falling onto the bed in a heap with Nico now laying on top of him. “You’re hopeless.” Nico sighed, his forehead resting on Will’s shoulder which he may or may not have headbutted by accident while Will had sent them falling backwards.

“The only hopeless I am is hopeless for you.” Will responded, his tone a strange mixture of giddiness and exhaustion. Nico’s only response was a tired groan, slightly muffled from where he lay, not bothering to lift his head away from his boyfriend. The two soon settled into silence and for a while, the two boys simply lay curled up in each other’s arms.

The silence held a warm comfort to it, where there was no need to fill the quiet with constant talking. Will brought his hand to the base of Nico’s neck, running it through the longer hairs and teasing out any knots. As he did, he could feel the other boy slowly relaxing further until eventually his breathing evened out as he drifted to sleep. The moment Will realised his boyfriend was asleep was the same moment he noticed how heavy his own eyelids were and finally he was drifting off into the soft lulls of sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly just wrote this out and posted it, I’m not great at proofreading lmao so if you see any mistakes just let me know


End file.
